Folding portable filing rack



1954 G. F. VENTRICE 2,686,702

FOLDING PORTABLE FILING RACK Filed June 4, 1953 I N V EN TOR. Garey/eve [l ewfrz'ce ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 17, 1954 zssyz UNITED STATES PTENT OFFIC FOLDING PORTABLE FILING RACK Genevieve F. Ventrice, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application June 4, 1953, Serial No. 359,542

2 Claims. (01. 311-17 The invention here disclosed i a portable folding rack or shelf especially. suitable for temporary attachment to the front end of a file drawer to hold papers, documents, and the like which are being put into a file system, and which is capable of being folded away compactly when the same is not in use.

There have been many uses for a foldable temporary shelf to be attached to some other sJructure, not the least of which is, the need for a shelf to simplify the operation of assembling documents in a file drawer. Under ordinary, current procedure, when several items are to be placed in a file drawer, they must be handled one at a time and those not immediately in hand must be laid aside briefly on some convenient object. The top of a file cabinet ordinarily has a good many other things stored on it and, in addition, is awkward to reach when a file drawer is open. Hence, there is the need for a portable shelf to facilitate filing, which shelf is capable of quick and eas attachment to and dismounting from a file drawer, and equally capable of being folded compactly and stored away when not in use.

According to the present invention, there is provided a compact foldable shelf or rack having a folding adjustable bracket underneath, hooks for attachment to the top edge of a file drawer, a stop or foot guide at the front edge of th shelf, and, if desired, a spring clip on one or more of the edges.

By this means the shelf may be stored in a minimum of space, at the back of a file drawer if desired, being foldable into a thin, fiat package. When needed for use, the supporting hooks are readily brought into play to attach the rear edge at or near the top of the front of a file drawer and the bracket is readily brought down to operating position and adjusted to give a desirable angle to the shelf or rack, whereupon the documents to be filed may be laid on top of the rack or shelf, against the foot stop, or under the spring clip if desired, where they are firmly held in good condition while they are taken, one document at a time, and filed in proper order in the file drawer.

Accordingly, a very convenient portable shelf suitable for attachment to a file drawer is provided which may be transferred from drawer to drawer as desired and, when attached to a drawer, is always at a convenient height with respect to the drawer for the sorting, placing and filing of letters, documents or other subject matter. Other objects and details of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the device of the invention attached to a file drawer;

Fig. 2 is a side View of the device as attached to a file drawer; and

Fig. 3 is a front view of the file drawer and attachedrack.

Referring to the figures, the rack or shelf or table of the present invention consists of a plate member 1 which may be made of any convenient material, such as compressed wood, molded composition with paper or fiber filler, aluminum, lucite or plastics or plywood of a convenient weight or thickness. To the back edge of the table member i there is attached a pair of fastening hook members 2 and 3 which are held in place by hinges l and 5. These hooks: are desirably made of metal either brass or steel, or may if desired be made in molded composition, or may be made of wood, although metal is the preferred metal in view of its thinner nature. The hooks are preferably made with an opening wide enough to take the widest file drawer front apt to be encountered with end members long enough to resist considerable bumping, vibration, and careless usage without coming free of the file drawer front. On the under side of the table member 5 there is provided a bracket member 6 hinged to the table member l by hinges l and ii. There is desirably provided also a cleat member t acting as a stop for the bracket to prevent swinging too far. The bracket conveniently has an adjusting member H as shown in Fig. 2 held in place by a set screw or wing nut it. At the front edge of the table member there is desirably attached a foot member i i which also is desirably hinged in place by hinge members it as is particularly well shown in Figs. 2 and 3. There may if desired also be attached a spring clip member 4 t desirably rigid or screwed to the table member i.

In the operation of the device or" the invention, the hook members 2 and 3 are opened out into operating position and the bracket member E5- is drawn downward into a position approximately at right angles to the table member I. Thereupon the hook members 2 and 3 are slipped over the upper edge or the file drawer front as shown and the angle which the table member I makes with the file drawer front is adjusted by movement of the adjusting member H, which is then held in place by the set screw !2. The foot them-- her l4 may then be raised up to a position at right angles to the table member 5 and the documents or other material to be filed may be laid on the table member 1 and held in place by the spring clip 16 if desired. The documents may then be withdrawn from the pile if desired one by one and placed in proper position in the file drawer until the stack of documents to be filed in that drawer have all been placed.

Thereupon the rack, shelf, or table may be lifted up, the hook members 2 and 3 disen aged from the file drawer front, and the drawer closed without impediment from any other thing. From this position, the rack may befolded up and returned to storage by folding in the hook members 2 and, 3, lifting up the bracket 6, and folding down the foot member 14; or without change the hook members 2 and 3, having been lifted off, may then be hooked to the front of another drawer while another stack of documents is filed. This procedure may be continued, moving the rack or table from drawer to drawer as long as there are documents to be filed, or the rack may be folded up and stowed away at any convenient time.

Thus, the device of the invention provides a a very handy and convenient portable rack, shelf, or table attachable to the front of a file cabinet for use during a filing operation to hold fileablematerial, which may thereafter be folded up and stored in a small space at anyconvenient time orlocation.

While there are above disclosed but a limited number of embodiments of the apparatus and procedure of the present invention it is possible to provide still other embodiments without departing from the inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is therefore desired that only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims asare stated therein or required by the prior art.

The invention claimed is:

'1. A folding portable filing rack comprising in combination, a table member characterized by dimensions of approximately those of documents to be filed thereby permitting of storage in the same file drawer as the documents, a pair of hinged hooks attached to the upper edge of said table adapted to engage the upper edge of a file drawer and to fold back within the dimensions of the table member, and a folding brace member hinged underneath said table member along a center line thereof at right angles to the upper edge thereof, and an eccentrically pivoted adjusting member attached at the lower edge of said brace member to cooperate between table and file drawer to adjust the slope of said table.

2. The structure of claim 1, in which the adjusting member is slotted and has a binding bolt through brace and adjusting member to secure the adjustment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 'Date 751,892 Andre Feb. '9, 1904 1,369,88e Church Mar. 1, 1921 1,720,123 Goodrich July 9, 1929 1,779,119 Zimmerli July 8,1930 1,900,760 Pendleton Mar. 7, 1933 2,189,607 Krischke Feb. 6, 1940 2,205,824 Shallish June 25, 1940 ,374,409 Brennan Apr. 24, 1945 2,533,147 Sparks Dec. 5, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 212,649 Great Britain Mar. 17, 1924 

